


X marks the spot

by salable_mystic



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Includes Art, M/M, Seduction, bodypaint, bonus art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salable_mystic/pseuds/salable_mystic
Summary: When Steve brings home a skin-friendly, edible body marker, it leads to all sorts of things. Nice, sexy, things.





	X marks the spot

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the letter, surprise surprise, „X“.

 

X x X x X

 

When Steve found the - 100% skin friendly, edible, non-permanent, sharpie-like - black skin marker, and brought it home with him for them to try out, Tony had initially been hesitant. Not because he wasn’t into a little creativity in the bedroom - far from it - but because Steve wanted it to be a reciprocal thing, and Tony didn’t do all that much work with actually physical pens and pencils on physical surfaces anymore.

Oh, he signed documents, sure, but other than that his design work was all digital now, and after having seen Steve’s art - and after having been Steve’s canvas when Steve discovered that bodypainting was a _thing_ \- and what a fun evening that had been - he couldn’t really be faulted for being a little bit intimidated by the concept, could he?

At least the marker washed off easily in the shower, so it wasn’t as if Steve or he would be walking around with the results of a somewhat enthusiastic but ultimately questionable drawing/scribbling session where anyone could see, for days on end. And, once Tony discovered that Steve both a) loved the sensation of the marker tracing over his skin and b) wasn’t averse at all to Tony adding words and squiggles instead of complex art, he, despite his initial hesitation, did become a very enthusiastic participant in their collective body art adventure after all.

So that made for an occasional fun night once in a while, but the skin marker might have been forgotten about eventually, had Tony not discovered a particular effect the pen had on Steve ... entirely by accident.

 

X x X x X

 

One morning - Steve had already been up and about, off on a short (20 mile) run - Tony was lazing about in their bed, contemplating the things he really needed to get done that day, and then he had remembered that he suspected that one of the Iron Man interface implants in his arm might be defective and needed scanning and/or replacing. It wasn’t a critical issue, but it was something to check into, and rather than making a note, or telling J.A.R.V.I.S. to remind him about it later, Tony had simply grabbed the skin marker from drawer in the nightstand and drawn a solid X on the skin next to his right elbow, right on top of where the interface implant rested. And then Tony’s day had turned out busier than expected, with an Avenger’s alarm right in the middle of it and some urgent questions from R&D ... and Tony had put the misbehaving interface implant and the mark on his arm out of his mind ... right until the moment that Steve and he were showering together in the evening and Steve spotted the X and then spent a lot of time paying attention to that particular spot on Tony’s arm with his teeth and tongue.

Delicious, delicious attention.

And, well ... Tony was a scientist. So he knew that one data point really proves nothing - but it was enough to give Tony an idea that this might be something to investigate, that Steve’s reaction might have been more than just a one-off, that it might point to something larger they might both enjoy. And if it turned out to be a coincidence after all ... well, it wasn’t as if having some marks on his body was harmful, or as if he couldn’t afford to buy plenty more of those skin markers once their current one ran out.

So, the next day, after they’d gotten up and had had yet another shower - they’d needed it, their morning had turned out to be rather ... deliciously energetic, so they were both somewhat rumpled, sticky, and sweaty - and while Steve had gone ahead to the kitchen to start the coffee maker and to fry some eggs and bacon - Tony grabbed the marker, and, after some contemplation of a) his plans for the day (mostly workshop), b) Steve’s plans for the day (training in the afternoon, nothing else on his schedule), c) what clothes he was going to wear (T-shirt and jeans), d) how hard he wanted to make it for Steve to notice (not too hard, but he did want it to be a tease), he finally added a small X to his collarbone, on a spot that tended to be hidden by the collar of his T-shirt, but that did occasionally peek out when he moved and the fabric stretched across his arms.

And then Tony went to breakfast, and waited, and observed. It took Steve a while to notice, just like Tony had suspected/hoped, but one minute they were sitting across from each other, Steve putting a dent into his second serving of eggs while Tony lingered over his third cup of coffee, chatting about the news and their plans for the weekend, and the next Steve had glanced up at something Tony had said, gaze following Tony’s gesturing hand - and then his eyes had landed on Tony’s collarbone and his gaze had become hot and ... intent.

And, well, then Steve had almost leaped across the table, their eggs and coffee had both been abandoned, and Tony had ended up pressed against the kitchen wall and with a _spectacular_ hickey on his neck.

So, data point two: success!

 

X x X x X

 

After that ... well, how could Tony resist?

He didn’t do it every day - definitely didn’t do it on days where either he or Steve needed to be out and about in public and presentable - he was a responsible adult, after all, no matter what his detractors said.

And, even on workshop days, when he got to build, invent, create, in ratty jeans and a tank-top, he didn’t always do it. Where would the fun be in that? No, every day would quickly become boring, and he wanted it to stay interesting, a game between them. It was a two-way game now, for Steve started reciprocating around data point five, and Tony learned that it worked just as well the other way around, that he could be driven just as crazy by a little X high up on Steve’s neck, almost hidden behind Steve’s ear and by his hair - by the knowledge that Steve had been thinking about Tony when he put that mark there, that he _wanted_ Tony to lavish attention to that particular spot, that he wanted Tony’s eyes and fingers and lips and teeth on him, that he _wanted Tony._

Which, yes, Tony knew - but there was something about that physical evidence, and the intent behind it, that never failed to drive them both a little wild.

It was hot, and sexy, and at some point, it also became a strange, unspoken way of asking whether the other one wanted to do certain things that night/afternoon/morning, in a teasing and indirect and fun way. Steve, when he woke up before Tony, might draw an X below his belly button, right at the swell of his penis, and Tony, when waking up and lazily making out, might see it and smirk, and vanish down south for a while ... things like that. And, well, when one of them didn’t find a mark on a day when one was present, or didn’t feel like indulging a particular mark, due to a lack of time or a stronger desire for something else, that was ok too - they’d either mention it, or they would just kiss it and shrug and shake their head and then move on to something else, with no hard feelings or disappointment ... it was fun, easy, intense, and always delicious, the most delectable treasure hunt Tony had ever engaged in - and so they kept doing it, and it just ... became a part of their relationship.

 

X x X x X

 

But the best, _the best_ , use Tony ever made of the skin marker, was not any of those occasions - and it was also one that was never repeated in quite this way, either.

For it was when he ... hesitantly, daringly, heart in his throat, and oh so tenderly, ... one night, while Steve was sleeping, picked up Steve’s right hand and drew a careful, careful, ring right around his right ring finger, and a question mark on the back of Steve’s hand. Steve didn’t wake up, and so Tony took a deep breath and, with a shaking left hand, clumsily added the same circle to the ring finger of his own right hand, and then tucked himself back into Steve’s side, hugged him close, and tried to fall back asleep.

He didn’t manage to do so for the longest time, which didn’t surprise him, so much hinged on Steve’s reaction, after all - but eventually, he must have, for he woke up on his back, Steve leaning over him, tears in his eyes, a smile wide and bright enough to make Tony’s heart clench impossibly on his face, and the beginnings of a _very_ large and enthusiastic YES scribbled on Tony’s own chest.

 

X x X x X

 

[](https://imgur.com/9YBcfMI)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [X marks the spot (podfic)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14330499) by [neverthelessthesun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverthelessthesun/pseuds/neverthelessthesun)




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